Honeyed - Volume 1
by whatstuffequal
Summary: It's a new school year in Haven Academy. The people of Mistral prove to be the most interesting as Haven's first years mix into a certain set of nefarious plans. A thief, a scholar, a spy, and a runaway struggle to get along as Team HONI.
1. Heather Lee

Love money and use people.

* * *

Heather was a perfectionist. Everything she plans must be exact and in her control. People, however, can be more interesting to control. Sometimes, they can be infuriating and rebellious. Heather knew this most of all.

Her long ash hair was carefully braided into an up-do. A cream-colored blazer was worn over her light heather blouse.

The large room was overflowing with lies and chatter. Heather milled around the room that was holding a career fair. Perhaps she seemed a bit young to be in a place like this, but there were so many opportunities. She can possibly find a job opportunity of course, but she can also build relationships, build her reputation, and most importantly, make some money while she's there.

Unfortunately, there was another matter to attend to. She finally spotted who she was looking for. A small, curry-skinned man in a standard suit stood in her sight and looked at her with alarm. Hurriedly, he stepped out of her view. The little bastard seems like he has been trying to avoid Heather.

She walked out of sight behind the waves of nicely dressed people. She slowed her breathing and focused on her Aura. The people around her slowed down and all conversation fell quietly. The entire world felt blurry. It almost felt like Heather was under water, but she was still able to move around normally. She promptly made her way behind a presentation board and let time play out normally. She took a few quiet breaths to cope with the fatigue and regain her composure.

She casually walked to the man's side. "Good to see you here, Raja."

"The man nearly choked on air. "H-hello, Heather."

She kept up a sincere façade. "I'm not nearly as disappointing as your other business partners. But, I would like to discuss our.. relationship soon after you're done here."

Yes, Raja can make dumb choices, but he seemed to understand Heather's cryptic words. "Of course, Heather. Just give me a few more minutes here and we can.. talk.. in my office."

"Of course."

Heather waited patiently, plotting and planning for her next moves. Finally, Raja walked up to her, and together, they walked to the man's car. Before Raja's fingers touched the handle of the driver seat's door, Heather interrupted his actions.

"Now, why don't you let me drive? I already know the way to your office, and I wouldn't want your nervousness to distract you from driving."

"O-of course."

Her sweet demeanor disfigured itself into a cold grin. "Very good."

The inside of Raja's office was very cluttered and full of family pictures. Heather took a chair across from Raja and stared at him straight in the eye.

"I've waited over a week now, Raja. I've been very kind by not sending bookies over to you, but now I see that there's no money to force out of you."

"Heather, I swear I'll get you the money. Business hasn't been very good-"

"I've seen your accounts. I've seen your books. You don't have a single Lien. In fact, you're swimming in an ocean full of debt."

Raja remained silent. Heather continued. "I played a bet with you because I believed that you were a friend who stands by his word. You told me that you could pay me over three grands of Lien on the spot, and your professionalism had me deceived. Even your brother, Anit, would have paid me within two days tops if he lost a bet with me."

"Heather.. I'm sorry.."

"I'm sorry too." She stood up and hovered over his small form. "I'm sorry that I trusted you. But this is how I make business. This is how I bring home money that my mother cannot. Gambling with you could have been our greatest hope or our greatest risk. Clearly, it was far from any kind of hope. Just remember that you still owe me something, whether it's Lien or favors. I'll keep in touch."

With that, Heather walked out onto the sidewalk still thinking of how Raja can come in handy. She definitely appealed to his sense of family by mentioning her mother, which she honestly couldn't care less about. She was still disappointed in Raja's false promise of Lien, but there was no use of crying over spilled milk. She'd learned her lesson. Besides, there were other places to earn money. She pulled out her phone and called, "Hey, Anit, wanna go to the casino with me?"


	2. Michael Oakfield

Look beyond your own pain to see the pain of others.

* * *

Michael gripped onto the long shaft of his halberd, Amnesty. A light dust of sweat began to stain his dark skin. He was just sparring with a world-known champion in front of the class. No pressure.

Carefully, he looked into the vibrant green eyes that were focused on him.

"3, 2, 1, GO!"

Immediately, Michael made his first move. He jumped into the air and fired his halberd at his redheaded opponent. With no surprise, she dodged his halberd and launched up with her javelin pointing toward him. He twisted in the air and dodged her attack. He landed on the ground and grabbed his weapon. Pointing his weapon at his opponent's falling figure, he fired several bullets, which were blocked by her spear. She kicked off her shield and lunged down toward him with her blade aiming for him. He successfully dodged, but his opponent's legs swept under him and ended up with his back to the ground. Instinctively, he twisted away and just happened to barely miss his opponent's blade. Quickly and with his heart pounding at an ungodly speed, he jumped back to his feet only for his face to meet the hard metal of a shield. He stumbled back and panicked. He dropped Amnesty somewhere on the arena and was blinking the stars out of his eyes. Suddenly, he was face to face with those same green eyes. The blade of her spear forcefully slammed into his torso, sending the boy flying and slamming into the wall of the sparring arena.

A buzzer went off.

"The winner is Pyrrha Nikos!"

A few claps and cheers came from the crowd of students who were watching them. Slumped against the wall, Michael tried to regain his senses.

"Need a hand?" A gloved hand appeared in front of him. Michael's eyes trailed up to meet those vibrant green eyes once again. He smiled at the redheaded victor. "Yeah, thanks." As Pyrrha helped her classmate up, two other guys raced toward them. The tanned, black-haired one ran up to Michael's side. "Dude, are you okay?" The smaller red-haired one had Amnesty in his hands. "Here."

"Thanks, Bolin, Scarlet." Michael smiled at his two friends.

"Well, it seems like you're in good hands." Pyrrha waved to her peers. "I'll be going now."

"Thanks again!" Michael waved back at the skilled fighter as he and his friends headed out of the sparring arena. They followed the crowd of students walking out of the sparring classroom and headed toward their usual hangout spot.

"I wonder where she learned to fight like that." Michael began.

"What do you mean?" Scarlet questioned.

"Y'know, Pyrrha." Michael emphasized his clarification. "I just don't understand how she's so.. so good at fighting. I mean, we're all in the same primary combat school as her, right? How can she be more talented.."

"Dude, jealousy really isn't a good look on you." Bolin stated.

"I-" Michael began to retaliate but faltered. "I'm sorry."

"No! Don't be sorry! I didn't really mean- I just-"

Ignoring his friend's nervous rambling, Scarlet looked at Michael in the eye. "Where is this coming from?"

Michael fidgeted with his hands. It must have been strange to see someone with such a tall and fit figure to act so scared. People looked up to him for friendship and comfort, but now.. Michael sighed.

"We're supposed to graduate soon and move onto Haven Academy. But, I'm not even close to Pyrrha's level. How will I be able to protect people if I can't even protect myself? I'm here because I want to protect humanity."

"We _will_ protect humanity." A new voice but familiar voice said. Michael turned in the direction of the voice and saw Pyrrha. She smiled at her three classmates. "We will protect humanity, but there are still many things to learn before that. All of us still need to improve ourselves through learning _and_ experience. Just because you don't think you're good enough doesn't mean you can't be."

Something sparked in Michael's dark eyes. "You're right.. Thank you."


	3. Natalia Noir

Competency is an endless uphill climb.

* * *

 _Again._

Natalia was poised for battle as two faunus in White Fang uniforms charged at her. Natalia's ovular pupils constricted and narrowed sharply at the two tall figures, studying their moving forms of their heat signatures through two holes on either side of the bridge of her nose.

In a fluid motion, she flipped over the first one, who had a peacock's tail. While in the air, she threw two needle-like knives at the peacock. He dodged the precise projectiles, but the thin knives detonated into flames and electricity. The peacock faltered in the smoke and heat of the elements. As Natalia smoothly landed on her feet, the second faunus, who had fox ears, threw a roundhouse kick from behind her. She ducked underneath the attack and kicked upward at her opponent, using her arms to push from the ground to propel her kick farther. Her fox opponent took the blow but didn't move an inch at the attack. He grabbed Natalia's ankle and flipped her over his head and smashed her small body into the concrete ground. The peacock dove down and stomped on the small faunus' abdomen.

Through the cloud of dust rising from the broken concrete, Natalia harshly clawed at the heat signature of the peacock faunus' leg that as still pressing down on her stomach. A larger knife impaled the faunus' leg and scraped the bone within it. An ungodly screech erupted from Natalia's feathery opponent as she twisted the knife and pushed him off of her and her weapon. The fox faunus took a step back out of caution as the small snake faunus flipped up to her feet and flung two thin knives from her larger knife at the ground. The two thin knives exploded with shattered ice. A few shards bit at the fox but didn't hit anything severe. Promptly, Natalia fired another two thin knives from her worn combat boots and began to run toward the fox. Her opponent sidestepped to avoid the knives and held up his arms to protect his face, expecting the knives to detonate.

Nothing exploded. Suddenly, his face was met met a two kicks and an explosion of electricity.

Natalia stood and glowered down at the two fallen figures, watching their body temperature to fall at a cooler level. She struggled to slow down her breathing to a normal pace, but her lungs screamed for air.

"Natalia." A tall bull faunus walked up to her.

She closed her eyes and scowled at herself. In a second, she was kicked down to cold, hard floor.

"You're a disappointment. Your movements and reaction times are still too slow. Your feints and tricks are too predictable. Overall, you technique is still sloppy, but.." He sighed. "I'm sure we can keep improving. Get up."

Natalia stood up a prepared for another battle as the bull faunus beckoned three White Fang members to come forward.

 _Again._

The small faunus bared her teeth as she anticipated the attack of her fellow White Fang members.

"Stop." A woman's voice cut through the air.

 _What?_

"What is it, Cinder?" The bull faunus growled.

"Now, Adam," The human cooed. "I need your little friend here to go on mission for me."

"Wh- no! I will not have a human-"

"Adam." The weight of her voice silenced the room. "I believe we had an agreement." Natalia could see the heat rise in the woman's eyes and noticed the increase in temperature in Adam. He must be getting angry. Again.

Adam scowled and stepped aside to let Cinder move forward to the small snake faunus.

"Natalia is it?"

She looked up to Adam, silently asking if she should speak for herself. He nodded so she turned back to Cinder.

"Yes."

"Tell me, Natalia, what can you see?"

Natalia fidgeted uncomfortably. "I guess.. I have really good eyesight..? And I can see heat.. and Aura.." It's not like vision is very easy to compare. It's quite difficult to describe something that has been normal your entire life.

Cinder regarded her curiously. "I have a job for you. Apply to Haven Academy. Emerald, Mercury, Neopolitan, and I will be there as well. We'll sort out the paperwork for you." She lowered her body to match her eye level. "Tell no one of your affiliation with us or the White Fang. You will pose as a regular student. We'll give you directions from there."

Natalia nodded.


	4. Iason Wintry

Ambition comes before the fall.

* * *

Iason put the last of his necessary belongings into a canvas backpack and strapped his transformable blade to his hip. He turned to the person beside him, his younger brother. More precisely, his adoptive brother, who was currently staring at the frosted grass of the estate's backyard. Iason placed a hand on his brother's smaller frame.

"Lav.. you should really come with me. Father isn't a stable man."

Their father, Wilson Wintry, was the one who adopted the both of them. Iason Viole in Vacuo and Lavande Belle in Mistral. For someone with such a large estate in Atlas, their father had a great tendency to travel around for questionable reasons, mainly to increase business particularly in Mistral's black market. For someone so prestigious in both the political world and the underworld, not many consider how the children he "adopts" are not quite meant to be children but meant to be used as tools for whatever personal purposes he pleases.

The other male remained quiet, intensely thinking over possible outcomes. There was a very high chance of their father finding them if they were to run away to Mistral. Seriously, what was Iason even thinking when he decided to sneak to Haven Academy? Lav was sure Father's friends would find them and contact their father. He could only imagine the magnified rage of Wilson Wintry. Thus, there were many risks in Iason's plan, even if he was right about the sick quality of their father's character and tempermant. Finally, he whispered, "I know, but I'm not leaving."

"Then why..?"

"W-what if he finds us- you?" His lip trembled at the thought of what could happen.

"That's why you have to come with me!" Iason emphasized as his grips on his brother's shoulder tightened. "Once he finds out I ran away again, he's gonna take it out all on you."

"But how will we make it? I can't survive or make it in a combat school like Haven. Besides.." His voice quieted. "With that much people.."

Fog swirled from their breaths and halted as the conversation came to a pause. Lav was right that he wasn't as suited for combat like Iason and that Lav's Semblance could potentially become an inconvenience.

Iason's hands fell to his side as his fingernails dug into his palms. His eyes were downcast and his eyebrows furrowed together, thinking of anything that could convince his brother to come with him. The cold outside air of Atlas bit at the two figures standing under Remnant's night sky. "Maybe- maybe I can hide you somewhere? No, that won't work.. Maybe I can set up a place in the city where you can stay near the school..? Yeah! That's it! I'll get you an apartment near school.." The boy desperately rambled off on his idea.

Lav sighed and sadly smiled at his brother's recklessness. "There's really no stopping you."

Iason smirked impishly. "Of course not!" He slung an arm around Lav. "It'll just be you and me far away from that bastard."

"You know, Father has a lot of connections and contacts in Mistral."

"Connections and contacts whom I am _very_ good friends with. And don't forget that you have some Mistral friends of your own."

" _Right_.." Lav replied stiffly. He didn't want to say it outright since it might shatter Iason's plans, but there were some things Lav didn't want to be reminded about Mistral, his birthplace.

"..too soon?" Iason tentatively inquired.

Suddenly, the muffled sound of heavy footsteps became apparent. Time was running out. Lav was usually a slow decision maker so Iason decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed his brother closer and whispered, "Just stay close to me."

With that, he took off, lugging Lav with him as he ran outside his father's main estate.

With that much hope from a dreamer, there's really no stopping Iason from doing what he wants.


End file.
